Compare and Contrast parent-child relationships in Follower, Catrin and two other pre-1914 poems

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Compare and Contrast parent-child relationships in ‘Follower’, ‘Catrin’ and two other pre-1914 poems

In the following poems we see various interesting examples of parent-child relationships. Some are easier to relate to than others but most communicate the stages of parenthood and the challenges posed by becoming responsible for another person. The poets each take different lines on how they perceive/d parenthood and the each in which their children reacted.

In ‘Catrin’ a metaphor of an umbilical cord is used to symbolise the relationship between mother and daughter. It seems that Gillian Clarke feels that this relationship is one that can be “neither won nor lost” and a “struggle”. She goes on to describe their everlasting attachment despite this temporary separation in terms of childbirth. She also says “from the heart’s pool that old rope, tightening around my life” her she is trying to reinforce her belief that her relationship with her daughter is everlasting as she discusses the implications of childbirth on her life. After evaluating the struggle she experiences she finally questions whether mother hood is right for her at this moment in her life.

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This compares to ‘On my first Sonne’(OM)where the father experiences extreme grief on account of the broken connection between him and his Son. Ben Jonson describes his son as “[his] right hand and joy” and is evidently proud of his heir. However the poet makes what he feels is a fundamental realisation that his Son infact belongs to God.  He actually feels that it was wrong of him to put “too much hope in thee[his son].” In this case the connection was in fact temporary and says that the son does not belong to him but God. Jonson struggles with ...

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